02 December, 2015

Battlefront's Battle of Jakku Is A Well-Timed Blast

By
Kyle Shimmin

Star Wars: Battlefront’s first free downloadable content,
Battle of Jakku, has rolled out for the players who pre-ordered, like myself. Here’s
my thoughts having playing a bunch of the new content, with the added bonus of
a short discussion of how I feel Battle of Jakku fairs when held up against
Halo 5’s recent free update.

Battle of Jakku

Battlefront launched with twelve maps, a number many claim
is too few. As I mentioned in my review, it’s view I respect but don’t agree
with, which is often the case when just such as argument is levelled against a title;
sure, I will have said the same about some games at some point, but when a game
hits that sweet spot, my feelings on volume of content tend to become
secondary. Anyone who’s read or listened to my feelings on other games in the past, can probably tell that I’m all
about the experience; I’ve learnt that quantifying ‘value’ in a way I consider
honest and useful, usually requires more context than I’m prepared to provide.

Battlefront’s position was strengthened by the quality of its
maps; whether small or large they support multiple discrete forms of combat
encounters. In my review I described the different qualities of the larger
maps; the wide channels of Sullust and Hoth, compared to the winding ravines of
Tatooine, and the vertical hell-hole known as the forest moon of Endor – which
is exactly as it should be. The two new maps set on Jakku, one large one small,
are equally distinct. Jakku being the desert planet from the upcoming Star
Wars: The Force Awakens movie, despite sharing the same arid biome of Tatooine,
its dunes are quite different.

The larger of the two maps, Graveyard of Giants, is of
course the star of the show. It is a warzone not littered with downed starships
and blasted walkers, but replete with them, and perpetual battle rages in the
skybox all around. The map is wide and open, more so than even Hoth or Sullust’s
large locations, yet it’s packed with defensible hills and dunes, and the low
kill zones that accompany them. There’s so much cover available that it may
appear inappropriately cluttered at first blush. The closest point of
comparison I might draw would be crossfires in the undergrowth of Endor, with
tangled wreckage and gutted AT-ATs functioning similarly to the foliage and logs,
but the width and ground-level focus changes the dynamic of battle considerably.

Graveyard of Giants, is the only map to support
Battlefront’s new game mode Turning Point, though it also hosts Walker Assault,
Supremacy, and Fighter Squadron matches. Another asymmetric mode, Turning Point
puts the Stormtroopers on the back foot, with the Rebels taking the
offensive. Matches are broken into
phases that progress across the map, much like Walker Assault, in the first
phase there are three capture points in a line, if the Rebels capture one the
Imperials fall back. Phase two begins and now there are just two capture
points, phase three also has two, but at phase four there’s just one. It is
worth noting that capture point progress does not reset if the attackers are
ousted from the capture area, this creates a sense of inexorable assault similar
to that of the ever-advancing AT-ATs in Walker Assault. The decreasing number of
capture points ensures that matches increase in ferocity as they progress, this
is complemented by the placement of the capture points, in the defensive highs
and murderous kill zones I mentioned earlier.

Goazan Badlands is the smaller of the two maps; it hosts the
game modes like Blast, Cargo, and most importantly, Heroes and Villains. The
gameplay here feels more conventional than on its larger cousin, a sentiment
not unexpected given the needs of the smaller game modes. It bears a hint of the
wreckage and destruction seen on Graveyard of Giants, and combines it with a
mesh of canyons and tunnels that can support intense shootouts, as is the case
in many of Battlefront’s maps. It goes without saying that it looks every bit
as gorgeous as the maps packed in at launch, and I have to admit I enjoy the yellow
ambiance of Jakku more than the reddish hues of Tatooine.

Having played around with, and been thoroughly disheartened
by Halo 5: Guardian’s recent Battle of Shadow and Light update, Battle of Jakku
is a revitalising pleasure that arrived exactly when I needed it to. Now you
may be wondering why I bothered bringing Halo’s free update up at all in this
piece about Battlefront, but there’s a real contrast in quality and volume of content
to be explored here.

Halo 5’s Battle of Shadow and Light update added four maps
to support the ‘new’ game mode Big Team Battle, as well as an array of REQ
cards, however like a good number of the Halo 5’s launch maps, these have been
built using the (still unreleased) Forge editing tools. In short they look
rough, real rough and in the matches I played, both alone and in a party, they
never captured the spirit of Big Team Battle, one of the modes I frequented in
past Halo titles. This is made worse by the fact that this is the only mode
that supports vehicular gameplay free from the very real effects of Warzone’s
microtransactions and the design that accompanies them. With regards to the
maps specifically, their state combined with that of many of the launch maps, elicits
no small amount of concern in me for the future of the game. All DLC maps that
will be added to Halo 5 will be free, and if Battle of Shadow and Light is any
indication then free is about the right price.

Battle of Jakku is certainly smaller in scope than Halo’s
free content, yet far more impactful; Turning Point is a fantastic new mode
that takes the core concepts of Battlefront’s premier modes and adds a palpable
twist of escalating ferocity. Turning Point capitalises on Graveyard of Giants’
unique landscape to great effect, and it’s a gloriously stunning landscape at
that. Goazan Badlands is every bit as
valid, but it could simply never capture the conversation like its vast
companion. If this is what’s on the horizon for Battlefront, then its future
I’m happy to pay for, while hoping of course that Halo 5’s free path turns
similarly satisfying.

Battle of Jakku launched December 1st for those
who pre-order Battlefront, it’ll be available for free for all come December 8th.